Wednesday August 27, 2014

Hey mom!!! This week has been the best week by far!!! Since I emailed you we have been to the temple twice. We got to have lunch there, and it was so good!! Proselyting was way fun and humbling! It was really hard to talk to people, but as soon as we got going, it went great! We had 11 referrals. This one lady said she was waiting for something like this in her life. So we committed her to baptism, and contacted the Elders in that area. They've already begun teaching her!  

Yesterday was the absolute best!  After the temple we took a tour.  We went up this mountain and got to look over all of Bogota. It is huge!!! Then we went to an Inca gold museum. That was sweet! The city is crazy.  Everyone stares at the 16 white kids walking down the street. They say all kinds of stuff to us!   After that we went and bought some jerseys.  They're sweet!  The "CREW" of my seven favorite Elders all got James jerseys. They're the sickest things! I also go a Colombia National Team jersey! When we got back we watched Ephraim's Rescue.  It was just the perfect way to end the amazing day! 

We changed rooms again, and the kid with the full ride to be a BYU QB left. But I got a pic with him. Just in case he is famous one day! My new room is the biggest one here.  We have 16 elders in there!  I get my new companion tonight.  He is from Peru.  He will get here at like Midnight!  Everything is going great here.  Spanish is so easy now.  I'm so excited to get to Bolivia! 

The floor looks amazing. Tell dad that he did amazing, Tell Brandon and Tyler I'm proud of them, and I miss them! Love you guys! Hasta luego! 

Elder Beals

Beautiful Bogota

The "CREW"

August 19, 2014

Hey mom and dad!!! They let us get on tuesday, because only half of the missionaries that were suppose to come did, and now it feels kinda empty here! We have basically been doing the same thing everyday, except the rest of this week should be amazing! The temple finally opened back up.  So we get to go tomorrow and Friday. We get to go proselyting Thursday!  They said they're going to take us in the city, drop us off, and say "Be back in four hours.  Get as many referrals as you can."   I'm so excited for that!  I freaking love volleyball so much since I've been here.  One of the kids in my district, the one I sent you a picture of where we are holding the flag, he played for BYU Idaho.  He is way good.  Whenever we get on a team together we destroy!  He is a way cool kid!  Well, we got new rooms, and one of the kids in my new room is way cool.  He is from Cache Valley.  He has a full ride scholarship to BYU to be the QB when he gets back.  He is the most humble, and athletic kid!!  He's way funny too.  At night we just make way funny jokes back to each other!  Everyday my Spanish just gets better and better.  I'm saying just send my to Bolivia right now!   But I do love it here in Colombia.  It's like a constant 60 degrees, and it just feels great!  I was wondering mom, if you could send me some pictures you have of like the family, or pics you have of me and my friends.  Just to have something to look at!  Love you guys so much.  I keep you in my prayers everyday that you will be blessed! Love Elder Beals

Look at the sign above the speed limit

The Elder from Idaho

Lovin the CCM

August 12, 2014

I'm doing amazing!! These past couple of days have flown by.  It is just class after class.  But I like it, because then I stay busy!  Today was the most amazing though.  because they normally take us to the temple every other friday.  But it is closed for one more week.  So they just opened the front gates and gave us a Book of Mormon, and said "be back in an hour!!!"  It was the greatest thing to go out and teach actual people!  I want to just go straight to Bolivia now!  My companion and I got three referrals.  And one of the guys seemed so intrested, and really cared about what we were saying, even if it was broken Spanish!  But the food here is great,  Even though we have rice about every meal, but I'm getting real used to that!  People are just so nice!  My favorite days are Sundays, because we just watch old conference talks, and theyre all in ENGLISH!!!!!! it's like a huge relief to actually understand everything! It's crazy how every night I just feel so happy, even though its so tough, and I'm 5000 miles away from my old life!  We just got our district spilt up today, and we got moved into a new room.  I don't like it that much, because it is smaller, and I'm not with any of my friends from my first room. Except my companion.  But that's how mission life is... once you get comfortable with one thing, it's gonna get changed!  But when we memorize scriptures we get choclate bars, and in the bars, there is a sticker, and they are just random things, like animals, or planets, or bugs, and they are like a currency here, people will give me anything for a sticker, and they trade them, I have like 12 of them, and people give me all the candy they have for one, I am like the king of stickers!  But I love it here.  Tell bear I miss him, and I'll see him in 701 days! Love every one, and I'll try to send some pics! 

Jacob at the Colombian MTC which is actually called the CCM

he is the 6th from the right 

August 7, 2014

They let us email a day earlier, because they have stuff for us to do tomorrow.  I love it here!! We got to go to the temple last friday.  It was an amazing experience, even though it was in spanish, and I barely understood anything.  The traffic here is crazy.  Everyone just drives wherever they want, but no one crashes... Hahaha spanish is so hard.  But it is coming along great. I mean how could it not. We wake up at 6:30, and have classes till 10:30 every day. And every one of them is in spanish... My companion is a kid from the Sacramento, California area. He has really humbled me, and makes me work super hard. I love my district. They are the funniest and most coolest kids ever. One is from portland, three are from Cali, three from utah, including me, and one from Idaho! The kid from Idaho is Elder Peterson.  He is so funny, and always makes me enjoy class. The kids from utah, Elder Sperry, and Elder Strong are awesome! Elder Strong is from Syracuse, and he reminds me of Brandon Deleon! He likes the same stuff as me, we relate to the same things, and we get along so well! He has made the CCM so freaking fun, We just do everything together!  Everything here is dirt cheap, I'm going to get some cool stuff.  Love you guys, thank you for everything.  Love you so much, and tell Jeff, Bryce, and Aubrey I love them! 

love Elder Beals!

PS. Sorry for all the grammar errors, Spanish keyboard, so its hard to type!! Love ya lots! 

July 30, 2014

Yesterday was crazy. Our flight in salt lake was delayed, but because we only had a 30 minute layover we missed the flight to Bogota. So they reassigned our flight and we didn't leave till midnight.  So we were at the airport for like seven hours.  I enjoyed the other flight, because I got a seat by the front.  So I had a lot of leg room. We didn't get to the CCM till six-thirty this morning. Then we had class start at 7... so I have not slept for so long.  No one here speaks English.  It is so hard to understand anyone.  I just nod my head and act like I know what they are saying... I met up with Brady as soon as I got here.  There are barely any elders here.  So Brady has helped me a lot on telling me where to go. But in the airport we shook Thurl Bailey's hand.  In Houston we met the Colombia National track and field team.  They were on the same flight as us.  Everything is going well.  I feel a little sick in my stomach.  Hopefully it will pass soon, and I don't throw up everywhere.  Love you.